Female GOP lawmakers fire back at CNN’s Don Lemon in new video ad: ‘I’m in my prime’

EXCLUSIVE: A number of female Republican lawmakers released a new ad this week firing back at CNN host Don Lemon, who was blasted as a “sexist” last month for claiming women were in their “prime” in their “20s, and 30s, and maybe 40s.”

Lemon made the comments on Feb. 16 during a segment on “CNN This Morning” in which he claimed 51-year-old Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley “isn’t in her prime.”

The ad, released Thursday by the National Republican Congressional Committee, jumps between Reps. Kat Cammack, R-Fla., Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, Erin Houchin, R-Ind., Debbie Lesko, R-Ariz., and Stephanie Bice, R-Okla., as they list the reasons why they say they’re still in their prime and tout the “incredible” conservative women serving in Congress.

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“I’m not about to let Don Lemon, or anyone, tell me I’m not in my prime,” Bice said, followed by Cammack saying, “I’m in my prime because I don’t need Google to tell me.”

During Lemon’s now-infamous comments, he told his fellow co-hosts and viewers that he googled, “When is a woman in her prime,” after Haley talked about politicians being “past their prime.” 

“I think I’m in my prime because I’ve never felt better,” Tenney said in the ad. Hinson said, “I’m a wife, I’m a mom, and I’m a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.”

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“I’m the first women to represent my district in Congress,” Houchin said, before Lesko added, “I’m a domestic violence survivor, I’m a mother, I’m a grandmother.”

“This is actually my second career,” Bice, who is a businesswoman and has run her own company, said.

CNN’s Don Lemon speaks at Harvard University Kennedy School of Government Institute of Politics in a program titled “Race, Media and Politics” on February 22, 2019 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  (Photo by Paul Marotta/Getty Images)

“There is nothing liberals fear more than strong conservative women,” Hinson said, while Cammack added, “We have incredible women from all over the country who represent every walk of life and every background you can imagine.”

Lesko went on to say that claiming she and her colleagues weren’t in their prime was “just stupid,” and Tenney argued it was time for Republican women in Congress to “shine.”

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“Republican women of all ages – we’re just getting started,” Lesko said.

“Our prime time is now,” Houchin added.

Nikki Haley visits “Hannity” at Fox News Channel Studios on January 20, 2023 in New York City. (Theo Wargo/Getty Images)

Lemon was excoriated by liberals and conservatives alike following his comments, and was forced to apologize to his CNN colleagues on an editorial call. “I believe women of any age can do anything,” Fox News Digital confirmed him saying. “What I said came out wrong and I wish I hadn’t said it. I believe women of any age can do anything they set their minds to. The people I am closest to in this organization are women.”

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He returned to CNN the following week after taking a short “holiday,” and was reportedly made to undergo “formal training.”